1 Samuel 15
1 [One day] Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to appoint you to be the king of the Israeli people. So now listen to this message from Yahweh:
And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over Israel: and now hear the voice of the Lord.
2 Yahweh, [the commander] of the armies [of angels] has declared this: ‘I am going to punish [the descendants of] Amalek for [attacking] the Israeli people after the Israelis left Egypt.
Thus said the Lord of hosts, Now will I take vengeance for what Amalec did to Israel, when he met him in the way as he came up out of Egypt.
3 So now go [with your army] and attack the Amalek people-group. Destroy them completely—destroy them and everything that belongs to them—the men and women, their children and infants, their cattle and sheep and camels and donkeys. Do not (spare any of them/allow any of them to remain alive)!’”
And now go, and you shall strike Amalec and Hierim and all that belongs to him, and you shall not save anything of him alive, but you shall utterly destroy him: and you shall devote him and all his to [destruction], and you shall spare nothing belonging to him; and you shall kill both man and woman, and infant and suckling, and calf and sheep, and camel and ass.
4 So Saul summoned the army, and they gathered at Telaim [town]. There were 200,000 soldiers. 10,000 of them were from Judah, [and the others were from the other Israeli tribes].
And Saul summoned the people, and he numbered them in Galgala, four hundred thousand regular troops, and Juda thirty thousand regular troops.
5 Then Saul went [with his army] to a town where some of the Amalek people-group lived. [His army prepared to attack them suddenly by] hiding in the valley.
And Saul came to the cities of Amalec, and laid wait in the valley.
6 Then Saul sent this message to the Ken people-group [who lived in that area]: “You acted kindly toward all our Israeli [ancestors] when they left Egypt. But we are going to kill all of the Amalek people-group, [because they opposed/attacked our ancestors]. So move away from where the Amalek people-group live. [If you do not move away], you will be killed when they are killed.” So [when] the Ken people-group [heard that, they immediately] left that area.
And Saul said to the Kinite, Go, and depart out of the midst of the Amalekites, lest I put you with them; for you dealt mercifully with the children of Israel when they went up out of Egypt. So the Kinite departed from the midst of Amalec.
7 Then Saul’s [army] slaughtered the Amalek people-group, from Havilah [town in the east] to Shur [town in the west]. Shur was at the border [between Israel and] Egypt.
And Saul struck Amalec from Evilat to Sur fronting Egypt.
8 Saul’s army captured Agag, the king of the Amalek people-group, but they killed everyone else.
And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive, and he killed all the people and Hierim with the edge of the sword.
9 They not only (spared/did not kill) Agag, but they also took the best sheep and goats and cattle. They took everything that was good. They destroyed only the animals that they considered to be worthless.
And Saul and all the people saved Agag alive, and the best of the flocks, and of the herds, and of the fruits, of the vineyards, and of all the good things; and they would not destroy them: but every worthless and refuse thing they destroyed.
10 Then Yahweh said to Samuel,
And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
11 “I am sorry that I appointed Saul to be your king, because he has turned away from me and has not obeyed what I commanded him to do.” Samuel was very disturbed/upset [when he heard that], and he cried out to Yahweh all that night.
I have repented that I have made Saul to be king: for he has turned back from following me, and has not kept my word. And Samuel was grieved, and cried to the Lord all night.
12 Early the next morning, Samuel got up and went to talk with Saul. But someone told Samuel, “Saul went to Camel [city], where he has set up a monument to honor himself. Now he has left there and gone down to Gilgal.”
And Samuel rose early and went to meet Israel in the morning, and it was told Saul, saying, Samuel has come to Carmel, and he has raised up help for himself: and he turned his chariot, and came down to Galgala to Saul; and, behold, he was offering up a whole burnt offering to the Lord, the chief of the spoils which he brought out of Amalec.
13 When Samuel arrived [at Gilgal] he approached Saul, and Saul said to him, “I wish/desire that Yahweh will bless you! I have obeyed what Yahweh told me to do.”
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said to him, Blessed [are] you of the Lord: I have performed all that the Lord said.
14 But Samuel replied, “If that is true, why is it that I hear cattle mooing and I hear sheep bleating?”
And Samuel said, What then [is] the bleating of this flock in my ears, and the sound of the oxen which I hear?
15 Saul replied, “The soldiers took them from the Amalek people-group. They saved the best sheep and cattle, in order to offer them as sacrifices to Yahweh, your God. But we have completely destroyed all the others.”
And Saul said, I have brought them out of Amalec, that which the people preserved, even the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, that it might be sacrificed to the Lord your God, and the rest have I utterly destroyed.
16 Samuel said to Saul, “Stop [talking]! Allow me to tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Tell me [what he said].”
And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what the Lord has said to me this night: and he said to him, Say on.
17 Samuel said, “Previously you did not think that you were important. But now you have become [RHQ] the leader of the tribes of Israel. Yahweh appointed you to be their king.
And Samuel said to Saul, Are you not little in his eyes, [though] a leader of one of the tribes of Israel? and [yet] the Lord anointed you to be king over Israel.
18 And Yahweh sent you to do something [for him]. He said to you, ‘Go and get rid of all those sinful people, the Amalek people-group. Attack them and kill all of them.’
And the Lord sent you on a journey, and said to you, Go, and utterly destroy: you shall kill the sinners against me, [even] the Amalekites; and you shall war against them until you have consumed them.
19 So why did you not obey Yahweh [RHQ]? Why did your men take the best animals [RHQ]? Why did you do what Yahweh said was evil?” [RHQ]
And why did not you listen to the voice of the Lord, but did haste to fasten upon the spoils, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 Saul replied to Samuel, “Hey, I did what Yahweh sent me to do! I brought back King Agag, but we killed everyone else!
And Saul said to Samuel, Because I listened to the voice of the people: yet I went the way by which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag the king of Amalec, and I destroyed Amalec.
21 My men brought back only the best sheep and cattle and other things, in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God here at Gilgal.”
But the people took of the spoils the best flocks and herds [out] of that which was destroyed, to sacrifice before the Lord our God in Galgal.
22 But Samuel replied, “Which [do you think] pleases Yahweh more, animals that are completely burned [on the altar] and other sacrifices, or people obeying him [SYN]? It is better to obey [Yahweh] than [to offer] sacrifices [to him]. It is better to pay attention to what he says than [to burn] the fat of rams, [even though God said they should be sacrificed to him].
And Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience [is] better than a good sacrifice, and hearkening than the fat of rams.
23 To rebel [against God] is as sinful as doing sorcery/black magic, and being stubborn is as sinful as worshiping idols. So, because you disobeyed what Yahweh told you to do, he has declared that you will no longer be king.”
For sin is [as] divination; idols bring on pain and grief. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord also shall reject you from being king over Israel.
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “[Yes], I have sinned. I disobeyed what you told me to do, which is what Yahweh commanded. I did that because I was (afraid of/worried about) what my men would say [if I did not do what they wanted]. So I did what they demanded.
And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, in that I have transgressed the word of the Lord and your direction; for I feared the people, and I listened to their voice.
25 But now, please forgive me for having sinned. And come back with me [to where the people are] in order that I may worship Yahweh.”
And now remove, I pray you, my sin, and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord your God.
26 But Samuel replied, “No, I will not go back with you. You have rejected/disobeyed what Yahweh commanded you to do. So he has rejected you, [and declared that you will no longer] be the king of Israel. [So I do not want to talk any more with you].”
And Samuel said to Saul, I will not turn back with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord will reject you from being king over Israel.
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul tried to stop him by grabbing the edge of Samuel’s robe, and it tore.
And Samuel turned his face to depart, and Saul caught hold of the skirt of his garment, and tore it.
28 Samuel said to him, “[You tore my robe! And] today Yahweh has torn away from you the kingdom of Israel! He will appoint someone else to be king, someone who is a better man than you are.
And Samuel said to him, The Lord has tore your kingdom from Israel out of your hand this day, and will give it to your neighbor who is better than you.
29 And since the one who is the glorious [God] of the Israeli people does not lie, he will not change (his mind/what he has said). Humans sometimes change their minds, but God does not do that, because he is not a human.”
And Israel shall be divided to two: and [God] will not turn nor repent, for he is not as a man to repent.
30 Then Saul [pleaded again. He] said, “I know that I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the leaders of the Israeli people and in front of all the other Israeli people by coming back [to them] with me in order that I may worship Yahweh your God.”
And Saul said, I have sinned; yet honor me, I pray you, before the elders of Israel, and before my people; and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord your God.
31 So Samuel finally agreed to do that, and they went together back [to where the people were], and Saul worshiped Yahweh there.
So Samuel turned back after Saul, and he worshipped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring King Agag to me.” So they brought Agag to him. Agag was confidently expecting that they would spare him/not kill him. He was thinking, “Surely I will not have to endure an agonizing death!”
And Samuel said, Bring me Agag the king of Amalec: and Agag came to him trembling; and Agag said Is death thus bitter?
33 But Samuel said to him, “You have killed the sons of many women with your sword, so now your mother will no longer have a son.” And Samuel cut Agag into pieces [with his sword], there at Gilgal, in the presence of Yahweh.
And Samuel said to Agag, As your sword has bereaved women of their children, so shall your mother be made childless among women: and Samuel killed Agag before the Lord in Galgal.
34 Then Samuel left there and returned to his home in Ramah, and Saul went to his home in Gibeah.
And Samuel departed to Armathaim, and Saul went up to his house at Gabaa.
35 Samuel never saw Saul again, but he was very sad about [what] Saul [had done]. And Yahweh was very sorry that he had appointed Saul to be the king of Israel.
And Samuel did not see Saul again till the day of his death, for Samuel mourned after Saul, and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
